“Wicki here, an Austrian-Jew, got the fuck out of Munich while the getting was good. Became American, got drafted, come back to give y'all what for.”

―Lt. Aldo Raine

Wilhem Wicki was an Austrian-born Jew who moved out of Europe before Hitler, a fellow Austrian, annexed Austria into the German Reich. He was enlisted in the US Armed Forces, where he joined "The Basterds".

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Born in Salzburg, Austria, he left for America when he heard rumors of Germany annexing Austria. He later joined The Basterds to take revenge on the people who killed his family and destroyed his homeland.

Wilhelm Wicki is seen at the place where German soldiers were ambushed, with a Nazi scalp. He is introduced to Werner Rachtman by Aldo Raine, as Wicki points a rifle at the German Sergeant. After Donny kills Rachtman, he acts as a translator for Private Butz.

He later goes undercover as a German soldier along with Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz and Lt. Archie Hicox to meet with their contact, Bridget von Hammersmark in a tavern in Nadine. He is seen in a ruined house, across the tavern, getting dressed, along with Hicox. Nervous (like most of the Basterds), asks the British man what if they go in the tavern and she isn't there, to which Hicox tells him they'll wait for her, reassuring him that she's a British spy.

When they enter the tavern, they are stunned to see German soldiers with Bridget von Hammersmark. Wicki tells von Hammersmark to not hurry, they'll just wait for her at the other table. He and the other two order 3 glasses of whiskey.

In the scene with private Butz a yellow maple leaf is seen on Wicki's left arm. According to Eli Roth, Tarantino kept that shot when someone pointed out the yellow leaf looks like the Yellow badge.[1]

During the card game in the tavern, after Hellstrom asks if his character is American, Wicki interrupts, claiming that since the King Kong character arrived in America, that would imply he could qualify for being considered American, mirroring his departure from Austria to America, where, according to Aldo, he applied for US citizenship, then joined the military, thanks to The Second War Powers Act of 1942. This could be further confirmed by the next dialogue exchange, where the Major claims that the visit to America was not fortuitous for him, but for someone else, all while the camera points at Wicki.

After the basement bar fight, Landa identifies one of the basterds as Cpl. Wicki, stating/implying that he was a German Jew who emigrated to the US before the war. However, Wicki is neither a 'typical' Jewish name, nor a German name but in fact a typical (and fairly common) name in Central Switzerland. If he was a Swiss Jew, Wicki would have most probably fled to Switzerland, but Landa doesn't mention anything in this direction concerning Wicki's family name and fate, which seems improbable since Wicki is a foreign sounding name to Germans and since Landa cares to show off his military intelligence.